The Cost of Freedom
by splongyFROG
Summary: Follow-on from the film, the family are in the mountains, heading for the border into Switzerland but they encounter many problems...will they make it?
1. Default Chapter

Title: ANY SUGGESTION FOR A TITLE? REWARD = MY LOVE AND GRATITUDE X

Summary: Follow-on from the film, family escaping over mountains but encounter many-a trial. Things do not go well at all...how will it end?

A/N: This is my first fanfic ever, so please review and be nice. Please no flames (I'm not really sure what they are but from what I've heard, they're not very nice). I love The Sound of Music and after reading some lovely SOM stories here, I thought I would like to give it a try. Many thanks to my friend "Hope's Tears" (as she's called on fanfic.net) who walked me through putting up this first introductory chapter, with the patience of......someone very patient.

Disclaimers: I do not own The Sound of Music or any of the characters that you all know so well from the film, nor do I own Austria or Switzerland, both featured or mentioned quite a lot. I do not know the Alps very well, so please forgive geographical mistakes, what I've put is all made up.

NOTE: This is simply the introductory/default chapter to get my creative juices flowing and to move characters from the film into this follow-on...so please do not judge too quickly if it seems slightly boring...it is simply my way of setting the scene really. Thankyou for your understanding. xx (Also, following chapters may be slightly distressing but I guarantee that all will turn out well and there will be plenty of cute interaction between the Captain and Maria.)  
  
All were cold, worried and weary, their muscles stiff and their bones aching as they stepped over the crest of the small mountain. Slipping down the dangerously steep recline towards the valley below, Kurt suddenly broke the family's tense silence.  
"Does this mean we're free now?" He asked, looking excitedly at the beautiful, innocent-looking world around them. The rest of the children looked wide-eyed and hopeful at their father, who paused, catching his breath and hoisting Gretl more securely up on his back.  
"Not far children, not far." He replied.  
"How far?" Marta suddenly whined, tearful with exhaustion and sniffling into the hem of her mother's coat. Captain Von Trapp looked around at his ashen-faced family and knew that they would need to rest very soon.  
"Well," He said, pointing. "You see that big mountain at the other side of this valley? The border into Switzerland is just over it and once we're safely across the border, we can find somewhere safe to stay."  
Following Georg's finger, Maria looked ahead of her. They were still precariously standing near the top of their mountain and beneath them the valley stretched from left to right as far as they could see and on the other side of that, opposite the hills on which the family stood, the great giant of a mountain loomed. The immense size of the monster, carved by mother nature out of heavy, jagged rock before painted with the partial greenery of grass and shrubs, was breathtaking to behold.  
Looking down at the tearful Marta, still clinging to her hand, Maria wondered how they were ever going to manage it. Well, she knew how to help _one_ matter.  
"Here Marta." She said in a calculatedly bright voice. "Why don't you ride on my back for a while, hmm?" And with that she helped the grateful child clamber up, holding her under the knees while the girl wrapped her arms around her neck.  
Continuing slowly down the mountain, another problem became apparent to the captain, as yet unnoticed by the rest, who were preoccupied with trying not to fall or break an ankle on the uneven ground.  
Nestled in the floor of the valley was a small town. Looking left and right to see if there was any way the family could go around it, Georg frowned; Curling right around the corner of the valley to the left and with a large river blocking any exit to the right, the town was unavoidable... they would have to go through it. It was too late to change plans now and to turn back was impossible, so the captain could only sigh and hope that Nazi soldiers would not be guarding such a remote settlement.  
A couple of hours later, the group arrived at the bottom of the mountain, relatively unscathed. There had been a scary moment when Brigitta had skidded on a slippery patch of dew-wet weeds but had escaped with nothing more than a scraped knee. Another terrifying shock came when loose rocks gave-way beneath Maria who overbalanced and fell, throwing herself sideways to protect little Marta who she was still carrying - Georg had caught her by the arm just as she was about to fly over the edge of a huge boulder and luckily her and Marta were fine, though Maria was badly grazed and Marta in need of calming down after such a fright.  
Huddling together under a tree, at the base of the mountain they had just conquered (diminutive in size compared to the one they still had to face), the family rested for a while and tried, in vain, to get an hour or so of sleep.  
Georg still wanted to have a quiet word with Maria about the dangers of the province they were heading towards but was unable to say anything infront of the children, for fear of causing a panic and Maria was stretched out, leaning against the tree trunk with Marta nestled under one arm, Gretl cuddled up into the other and Friedrich's head rested in her lap. Captain Von Trapp looked down at Liesl in his arms and then at Kurt, Louisa and Brigitta flopped in a huddle infront of him. He thought to himself that anyone watching them would have found this scene very serene and seemingly happy, yet he knew that the children's silence was unnatural, their scared breathing harsh and their haunted eyes, staring ahead of them, indicated their dark, worried thoughts and fears.  
Trying to ignore the burning pain over her legs and up her back where the skin had been sharply scoured off during her fall, Maria wished - not for the first time - that they had been able to bring food with them. Though she knew they would have been unable to carry extra loads with them over the treacherous landscape, she wished that she could somehow soothe the little-ones' pain and feed their growing hunger.  
The children themselves did not complain, they understood that there was no possible way they could silence their rumbling stomachs just yet and that nagging would only upset their parents more, who were feeling guilty enough as it was. Maria's heart swelled at the thought of how considerate all the children were being and she had to hold back tears to think of how much they were suffering in silence.  
"OK." Maria called softly, gulping down her tears. "You can all have some more of your water now but be careful not to drink it all at once. Save some for later, you will still need it."  
At once all of the older children reached into jacket pockets and pulled out hip flasks, gratefully pouring the contents into their parched mouths. Gretl and Marta hurriedly sat up, watching Maria expectantly as she retrieved their flasks, one from each pocket. "Remember," She gently reminded them. "Not all of it now." As Friedrich was now also sitting up in a crouch, Maria was free to stand and walk over to Georg, who had both of their drinks.  
"Here." He said, handing Maria hers as she sat beside him. She thanked him and unscrewed the lid as he slipped his arm comfortably around her shoulders. Laying her head against his chest, she began sipping at her water; she had drunk less than anyone else, (the bottle was still almost full) saving as much as possible for when any of the children inevitably ran out of theirs, not regulating their intake properly. Sure enough, just as Georg opened his mouth to talk seriously with Maria about the town ahead, a restless half-whispered discussion floated on the breeze from the direction of the children.  
Gretl had opened her flask only to discover that it was empty and had tearfully told Liesl. Kurt, overhearing, began to scold her.  
"It's your own fault." He said. "Father and Frau - Mother told you not to waste it."  
"I didn't." Gretl wailed, tugging at Liesl's skirt imploringly. "I'm thirsty." She cried.  
"Come on." Liesl took her hand. "Let's go and tell our parents, they may be able to help..."  
"No!" Friedrich interrupted, stumbling to his feet. "I agree with Kurt, it's not fair on them. What can _they_ do anyway?" At this point Gretl burst into tears.  
"Mind what you say Friedrich." Brigitta frowned. "You've scared her, she's too young to understand what's going on."  
"Come on." Liesl repeated, leading the sobbing Gretl towards the adults, but Gretl halted, tugging her arm back.  
"I don't want Mummy to cry." She said, looking up at Friedrich. The children all began arguing at once, trying to keep their voices hushed but failing.  
The comotion had drawn Maria over and, understanding the situation instantly from the little she heard, she hushed the group and knelt before Gretl, wiping the girl's tear-streaked, runny-nosed face with her sleeve (the only material she had available) before placing her own flask in the child's tiny hands.  
"Shhh... It's OK. Have some of mine."  
"But..." Gretl began, but Maria shook her head and gently put her finger to the girl's mouth. "Thankyou." Gretl sniffled, throwing herself into her new mother's arms and kissing her on the cheek.  
As Georg watched from a couple of metres away, he could not help smiling. He loved watching Maria with the children, they adored her and she was a wonderful mother to them, even though they were not her own. She did everything in her power to make them happy and gave everything she could possibly offer to make them content. His happy reflection was tinged with sadness, why hadn't _he_ noticed that something was wrong? Why hadn't he given _his_ water to his youngest daughter? Since Maria had flown into his life, he had improved drastically as a father...but was it enough? He still had so much to learn and yet Maria was a natural. He tried to imagine what he would do if any Nazi soldiers threatened any of his family in the nearby town and realised that he would do anything to save and protect them, he would sacrifice his life for them if he had to. It suddenly occured to him that the love of one's children _does_ come naturally and that his sons, daughters and now Maria were his life.  
With fresh hope trickling through his tangled, bitter web of fear, Captain Von Trapp leapt to his feet and called his family to order.  
"Let's go on." He said. "The sooner we keep moving, the sooner we can get on with our lives in Sunny Switzerland." He gave his children a jokey smile before hoisting Marta up onto his shoulders and marching on.  
The rest of the group collected themselves together and followed, Maira now carrying Gretl, who had drunk her fill of water and given the flask back to her.  
From their spot in the valley, surrounded by trees, the troup could not see the town but all knew that it was ahead, having seen it from the mountain and thought nothing of it, while one person worried about the possible dangers it might hold.  
Further into the woodland, Kurt sidled up to Maria, sheepishly glancing up at her from under his brow, his head bowed.  
"What is it Kurt?" She asked, blowing Gretl's long hair out of her face to see him.  
"You - you see. I, um...could I please? I mean, I..." She thought she knew what he was trying to ask.  
"Here." She said, straining slightly to continue supporting Gretl with one hand while fumbling in her pocket with the other. She threw her flask to him and he grinned, thanking her and sipping a few mouthfulls. Maria licked her dry lips as he handed the water back to her but did not chance drinking a drop incase one of the other children needed it later, she wanted to be careful incase they were unable to get anything in the small town (though that seemed rather unlikely to her.)  
To try and pass the time as they walked and to take their minds off of their blistered, sore feet, the children tried to name different types of trees and plants as they trudged by them. As Friedrich was commenting on a large tree that would be perfect to support a tree-house, the picturesque town came into full view. At quite a distance to the left, along the front of town, Georg noted the main entrance, where there was a tolling booth and a few cars waiting to enter, sitting on an unseen road that the family must have been journeying parallel to. He was dismayed to see the familiar beige, dust-coloured uniforms of German soldiers guarding the spot where the road joined into the quaint-looking precinct and realised sadly that Austria was truelly lost. He only hoped that he and his family could slip through the houses without going near the vehicle entrance... no one could be watching the remote mountains closely, could they?  
The small group stood at the edge of the woodland, a stretch of open ground, a meadow, laying between them and the first small streets visible to them.  
"Come." Captain Von Trapp muttered, giving a small wave, an indication to move on. Maria finally dropped Gretl back to the floor and held her arm supportingly as they all walked quietly across the glade.  
The wind lightly stirred the tall grass around the family, making it rustle and whisper to them in an almost consoling way. The same soft breeze stroked their hair and cooled their faces, hot from exertion, and playfully tugged at their jackets and skirts. Little Gretl, not fully understanding the trials before them, smiled as a butterfly flapped lazily past her face and raised her hand to try and touch it before it was gone.  
The world seemed, at that moment, a happy, carefree and beautiful place as the Von Trapps reached the edge of town and warily ventured forth into the unknown...


	2. Chapter 1 Ghost Town

A/N: Well...this is the second chapter to my first ever fanfic. I apologise if this one seems a tad rushed but I am halfway through exams and wrote this chapter while "revising" (I know...I'm bad.)

Disclaimers: I do not own The Sound of Music or any of the characters that you all know so well from the film. My title is an adaptation of one kindly suggested to me by "MaryAnne741" - thank you for the e-mails :' D

As the family took their first few steps into a side-street, Maria was firstly struck by how pretty the place was. The small, cosy-looking houses all had unique, happy characters; some had brightly coloured flowers hanging in baskets of twine, others were covered in ivy or had sweet honeysuckle clinging to their walls and arching over their welcoming doorways. Windows were flung open due to the warm weather and vases of wild flowers were often visible, sitting merrily on the inside window-ledges.  
The cobbled street that the Von Trapp family were slowly walking up, probably heading towards the town-centre was completely empty and the sound of a set of wind-chimes could be heard, tinkling a lullaby refrain from a few houses away.  
The peaceful quiet soothed Maria's frayed nerves until a concern began to form at the back of her mind. Beginning to feel tense again, she tried to draw the worry to the surface of her foggy brain, to make sense of the half-formed thought still shrouded in the darkness of her subconscious, and to sort the fractured, blurry images into a full picture. It was the soothing silence itself, she realised. The Sun was high in the endless sky, indicating that it must have been about midday, so why were the streets not crowded with people? It was early afternoon, the weather was fine and yet not a soul could be seen.  
Georg must have had the same thought; before the family moved from their little alleyway and into the larger street it led on to, he raised his hand to halt them and gave Maria a sideways glance. The concern in his dark-blue, mysterious eyes confirmed her suspicion that something was definitely wrong.  
"Why is this town completely deserted?" Maria asked, swinging Gretl off of her back, resting her on the floor and laying her hands lightly on the small girl's shoulders.  
"When we arrived, I saw some soldiers." Captain Von Trapp muttered in reply, his eyes sweeping over his nervous children. "Whether they are German or Austrian, I don't know but it doesn't matter. They're part of the same army and they're guarding _this_ town." Brigitta gasped and Louisa sidled closer to Maria, taking one of her hands in her own. Maria squeezed back gently in reassurance.  
"Where do you think everyone is?" She asked her husband, while her imagination depicted all sorts of horrific ideas as to what could have happened to the townsfolk.  
"No..." Georg said, predicting her train of thought. "I'm sure they're just inside their homes, they wouldn't want to be out too often with Nazi soldiers patrolling the place."  
"Then," Brigitta began. "Don't we look suspicious here, outside?" The group fell into an uncomfortable silence at that remark and Maria could feel little Gretl, pressed up against her, shivering.  
"Come on." The Captain said finally, his voice slightly croaked. "We'll go this way and keep away from the main streets, we'll try to work our way around the town square without going through it."  
So, with Captain Von Trapp leading the way, the family turned around, backing up on themselves, and walked back a short distance down the street, before cutting through the houses where there was a small passageway. The walls of the buildings on either side pressed inwards, making the tight space between them feel cramped and claustrophobic.  
Reaching the end of the little, hidden walkway, Georg stuck his head around the corner of the houses and saw another cobbled street, much like the first they had encountered.  
"Come on." He whispered. The family followed obediently and crept up the new street, huddling together, no longer able to enjoy the beauty of the place and feeling only its cold atmosphere. At the top of the street, the group halted again.  
"OK." Said the Captain. "All of you stay here. I shall just go ahead to get my bearings and make sure the coast is clear." Maria began to protest, scared for her husband's safety. "I will only be gone a few short minutes." He assured her, letting go of Marta's hand to stroke his wife's cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be careful." Maria leant her face into his warm palm and closed her eyes, mouthing a silent prayer before nodding her consent.  
"I'll go with you Father." Friedrich offered, stepping boldly forward and holding his blonde head high.  
"No." Georg said firmly. "You stay here with the others." Friedrich's shoulders slumped dejectedly. His father still did not think he was man enough to take his place at his side, still thought he was a little boy who could not take care of himself. Noticing his eldest son miserably turning his face downwards and kicking at the ground moodily with the toe of his scuffed shoe, Georg said, "I need you to stay here and look after the family while I'm gone. They need a man around." Friedrich grinned up at him and stuck his chest out proudly.  
"You can trust me, Father." He said, trying to sound important and solemn.  
Georg smiled, took one last look at all of his children and Maria, then ventured out of the sanctuary of their little road to explore the streets ahead.  
  
As Georg walked warily away, Maria watched him closely, holding her breath, while the children sat to the side of the street on a moss-covered wall. Maria was too engrossed in her observation of the Captain's hunched figure disappearing up the road, to notice when the children (excluding Liesl and Brigitta) began picking off bits of damp moss and flicking them at each other. Friedrich had held back from taking part at first, wanting to play the adult, but decided that it would be more fun to join his siblings.  
  
Georg felt his light steps thundering against the stone of the pavement and wished he could somehow deaden the echoes they made, reverberating around the tops of the houses before bouncing back to serenade him on his solitary walk. His heart began pounding to the beat of his footfalls, throbbing almost painfully against his chest like a wild animal trying to burst from its cage, as he reached a point in the road where other streets interconnected with it. He would have to quickly inspect each of the routes before choosing the one which would lead deeper into town.  
The Sun had retreated behind a thick mass of leaden cloud, which had materialised from nowhere in the course of a few short seconds, and the weak light managing to filter through the dense quilt was a murky haze, lending the town a surreal quality as though it were under water. The very air felt soupy and Georg could see it rippling before his eyes as the colours of the streets, without the golden sunlight to brighten them, merged together to form one toneless grey.  
He glanced back and saw the bright shape of Maria some distance away and as he continued his surveillance, he could feel her worried gaze burning into his back. Mentally shrugging off his fears, Georg peered into the first of the roads...it was empty.  
Before the next turn-off, there was a small alleyway, a dark crack separating two of the buildings. The black slit seemed somehow ominous to Georg and the glint of a spot of light, probably a reflection on some large abandoned object, winked at him, as though maliciously daring him to enter. As he took a slow step towards the alleyway, Georg was sure that he could make out movement amidst the shifting shadows.  
  
Maria ignored a particularly large and juicy lump of moss as it flew past her head, landing a few feet from her, and frowned as she saw the faded form of her husband stop dead in its tracks, something evidently having caught its notice.  
  
Squinting into the gloom, Georg was now certain that there was something moving. There was a shadow amongst shadows that did not belong there and as he watched, it began to slink towards him, quickening its pace as it came...  
Suddenly it leapt out at him, making him stumble backwards in a moment of terrified confusion.  
  
Maria looked on, gasping, as her dear Captain leapt into the centre of the street, startled. The children had not noticed, getting grime under their fingernails as they collected more ammunition from the surface of the brick wall and furiously threw them at each other, Liesl trying desperately to restrain and calm them.  
  
Holding his hands up defensively, Georg looked up at his attacker. It was on him, hissing, spitting and clawing at his face...a cat.  
Throwing it off in frustrated relief, the brave Captain Von Trapp realised how ridiculous he must look and kicked out at the feline in embarrassed anger. The cat arched its back, its scruffy grey fur standing on end, and continued hissing at him, its green, lamp-like eyes staring at him accusingly.  
  
Maria laughed and clutched her hand to her chest in relief. A mere stray cat was the cause of such a shock. She giggled again as the distant shape of her husband aimed a clumsy kick at the animal, his leg swinging uselessly over the creature's head. As she waited for her heartbeat to slow after the false alarm, Maria felt suddenly weak and dizzy. Resting the back of her hand against her forehead, she realised that her face was becoming quite hot. Closing her eyes and steadying her breathing, she waited for the spell to pass and decided that she would have to drink some more of her water, she was dehydrated.  
As she unscrewed the lid to her flask, she continued watching the diminishing shape of her husband, her fear for his safety rising again as he turned the corner into another street in the distance.  
  
"Stupid animal." Georg muttered, traipsing past the scrawny and furiously spitting cat to continue searching the newly-established Nazi territory. Walking up another street, identical still to the others, he began to feel that he was being watched. The icy finger of fear stroked the length of Georg's spine, caressing a cold shiver out of him and he was compelled to look behind him...he was still alone. As he walked on, Captain Von Trapp began to sing his wife's old song, "Favourite Things", under his breath but found that it brought little comfort and he stopped after only a few short lines, not knowing any of the words past "...whiskers on kittens".  
  
Staring at the spot where she had last seen the retreating form of Georg, Maria lifted the small flask to her lips and drank some of the beautiful contents gratefully, enjoying it's cool taste in her mouth and the sensation of it trickling down her dry throat. Lowering the bottle, she smiled and tousled her short strawberry-blonde hair with one hand, a habit she had established since having it cut to become a postulant. Still gazing at the street where Georg had disappeared and hoping that he was OK, she raised the water to her mouth again.  
"Right!" A harsh voice suddenly boomed behind her and a heavy hand thumped down onto her shoulder. Spluttering the water in shock, she looked at the large, masculine hand clamping her shoulder as firmly as a metal vice and raised her eye line to the arm, freezing in fear as she saw the blood-red armband, emblazoned with the swastika, against the grey sleeve and fully registered the gravity of what this meant...

A/N: Once again, I'm sorry this was rushed but please review if you can, it would brighten my day during my exams – thank you.


	3. Chapter 2 And so it begins

Disclaimers: I do not own the Sound of Music and the title to this story is an adaption of one kindly suggested to me by "MaryAnne741". The characters that you all know so well are not my own either, but the new characters (as yet unnamed) are my own.  
  
A/N: I am very sorry that this chapter took a long while to put up and that it is, frankly, a bit naff but I have JUST finished my exams (Yay! They're OVER!) and so have been extraordinarily busy. Another problem that holds me up is that I have been writing the chapters on paper before typing them up and I have just come to the conclusion that I will not do that anymore - it takes up far too much time.  
  
Thank you very much to all of you for your reviews, it is a joy to receive them, especially as this is my first ever fanfic so I'm exceedingly nervous still. I am sorry "MarePopAndrews" and anyone else who doesn't like too much angst, but this story does not lighten up for a little while yet...as they say, things have to get worse before they can get better (again, thankyou for the reviews!). I worked out in my head a few days ago exactly where I want this story to go and there are a few twists ahead.

_ Staring at the spot where she had last seen the retreating form of Georg, Maria lifted the small flask to her lips and drank some of the beautiful contents gratefully, enjoying it's cool taste in her mouth and the sensation of it trickling down her dry throat. Lowering the bottle, she smiled and tousled her short strawberry-blonde hair with one hand, a habit she had established since having it cut to become a postulant. Still gazing at the street where Georg had disappeared and hoping that he was OK, she raised the water to her mouth again.  
"Right!" A harsh voice suddenly boomed behind her and a heavy hand thumped down onto her shoulder. Spluttering the water in shock, she looked at the large, masculine hand clamping her shoulder as firmly as a metal vice and raised her eyeline to the arm, freezing in fear as she saw the blood-red armband, emblazoned with the swastika, against the grey sleeve and fully registered the gravity of what this meant..._  
  
...Spinning around and jumping, Maria reflexively spat out the mouthful of water. She watched, dismayed, as the water arched in slow motion through the air, light glinting joyously on the spray and she knew what was coming. It was inevitable. A second later - a second which had extended into eternity for Maria - the water hit the man squarely in the face.  
Maria cringed as she watched the Nazi officer's expression. His face remained blank for a moment but as he fully registered what had happened, he looked her straight in the eyes.  
Maria had seen this expression many times in the past, she knew it well...She had seen just such a look on the face of the Captain when she had first arrived at the villa (what seemed an age ago) and he had caught her prancing around his ballroom. The look in the officer's cold eyes matched those of the butler, franz, when she had mistaken him for Captain Von Trapp and shaken his hand enthusiastically in a most undignified and erratic manner. Reverend Mother's disgruntled face came to mind when Maria had once overslept and, in the rush to join the other nuns to breakfast, had unknowingly tugged one of her skirts on her head, mistaking it for her wimple.  
Yes...she knew this mixture of disgruntled bafflement and distain well.  
As the officer continued staring at her in irritated disbelief, the water dripping from the tip of his straight nose, Maria could not help but start laughing. She clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the uncontrollable giggles but it was no use, she had been in an awkward situation similar to this too many times in the past.  
The man continued staring down at her in silence, not amused, and Maria's laughter died away, catching in her throat as her smile faltered. She quickly glanced at the children, they were all standing mutely by the wall, their eyes wide with fear. Kurt was shaking his head in disbelief - how could she be _laughing_?  
Looking back at the Nazi soldier, she automatically stuck a nervous grin on her face.  
"I am most terribly sorry." She spluttered. "You, erm, made me jump...somewhat."  
The soldier whipped out a white handkerchief from his breast pocket and began mopping at his face, his lip curling in disgust. As he dabbed the last few droplets of water from his cheek, he said,  
"What are you doing out here wandering the streets? You aren't local to this area, where are you from?"  
'Oh dear.' She thought. She and Georg had not planned anything to say in a situation like this. It could not hurt to tell the soldier who they were, could it? The Nazis stationed here were not to know that the Captain was wanted in the navy or to be made an example of to other devoted and loyal Austrians... Or should she lie? The only problem was, she was naturally of an honest disposition (too honest, some would say) and so an unpractised and _terrible_ liar.  
Maria had to exercise all of her willpower not to wring her hands in desperation (a sign which would surely give her away as up to no good) as she circled the officer to stand by the children, a better position to watch the street where Georg had disappeared. The man now had his back safely to the adjoining road so he would not notice Captain Von Trapp returning and hopefully Maria would be able to warn her husband somehow before he reached his family.  
"Well?" The soldier persisted impatiently, sweeping his stern gaze over the children who stood dumbly, wondering what their mother would do and say.  
"We...arrived on the main road, naturally." She said, plastering another smile on her face. "We have already been stopped by the guards there and they let us through..." She tried to think of some way to completely allay the man's suspicions and so added, "So you have no need to question us. We have already been given the go-ahead to pass through the town." ...'Was that too obvious?'  
He was not convinced. "Came by the road did you?" Maria nodded fervently. The corners of the Nazi's mouth turned up into a cold smirk as he said, "Is that so? Where, may I ask, is your car then?" Maria's mind raced. He had her there, she conceded, there was no way to explain the lack of a vehicle.  
"Well..." She answered lamely. "How else do you suppose we managed to get here, other than by the one main road?"  
She held her breath as he fixed her with his steely gaze, his grey, stormy eyes burning into her own. Surprisingly, the man seemed near convinced, (he lacked the imagination to think of any other route to the town), scratching his head uncertainly through his mat of silver hair. He was in his late fourties and Maria could tell that he was fooled by her youthful appearance, mistaking her look of innocence for pure honesty. Maria took the opportunity, during his pause of indecision, to break eye-contact quickly and flicked her eyes past the ageing officer's shoulder to glance at the street behind him - Georg was still out of sight.  
The man's softening gaze froze and his eyes narrowed when he saw the young woman's electric blue eyes flicker nervously away from him, he knew instantly that she was being dishonest. He could see clearly that she had noticed his change in demeanour back to the cold, upright and harsh stance, when she raised her fine eyebrows and, lightly biting her lower lip, stared fearfully up at him. She was clenching her hands together by her waist, her knuckles white due to the tightness of her grip.  
Maria felt chilling dread as his eyes rose slowly from her hands to look above her head. The man frowned as he looked over the top of Maria and saw the huge mountains behind her, cutting through the blue of the sky with their magnificent presence.  
"Trying to cross the border, are we?" He smirked, finally taking in the torn and muddy bottom of her skirt and sweeping his eyes over the equally soiled and disarrayed garments of the children. "Escaping over the mountains, were we?" He asked, his icy eyes flashing maliciously. "From whom, I wonder?"  
Maria tried to protest weakly but it was no use. She was sure that he had begun to believe her at one point, thought she had seen his original stony glare begin to dissolve and melt, thought she had seen him yielding and trusting her word...  
As the soldier took a triumphant step back, retrieving a whistle from a side pocket, the seven children crowded around Maria. Liesl stood behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder, Louisa and Brigitta stood on either side of her and grabbed an arm each, Marta and Gretl hugged her waist, Gretl whimpering into her coat, and the two boys pressed up to the group as close as they could, trying to stand tall and defiant. The family faced the soldier and watched, helpless, as he gave one quick blow on his whistle.  
Maria had once joked that she had first fallen in love with Georg when he had blown his "silly" whistle at her but if that was true, this had the opposite effect. Her very blood ran cold with horror as the tinny, shrill sound pierced through the still air.  
A second soldier ran around the corner at the bottom of the street, coming up behind the members of the Von Trapp family (cuddled together for support) and jogged towards his comrade. As he reached the group, the second, younger, soldier snapped his heels together and swept a disinterested eye over Maria and the children before turning to the other man.  
"I think we need to escort this young lady and her charges to the station for a little talk." The silver-haired officer said mildly and the other man gave a curt nod of his head. "I shall take the lead with the woman." He continued. "And you can follow on behind the children, making sure none of them escape or try anything rash." With that the man took Maria firmly by the elbow, forcing her into movement as he began marching forwards. The jerk to her arm caused the flask to fall from her hand and drop into the gutter, the last of the water dripping to the floor and trickling away between the cobbles of the road.  
Maria stared behind her at the children to be sure that they were alright and noted absently that they had automatically lined up in age order and were marching in single-file, much like they had done in the years preceding her arrival, after their mother's death.  
Gretl, at the back, looked as though she were about to cry but the young soldier walking at her heels laid a hand gently on her head. Noticing Maria staring apprehensively over her shoulder at him, he gave her a reassuring half-smile, before pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to the sniffling child. Maria relaxed a little, the young man meant no harm to the children and even seemed to care about their well-being.  
Turning her eyes back to the direction in which they were walking, she wondered where Georg was and what he would do when he discovered that they were gone...  
  
Georg grinned as he looked out over the plain of flat landscape before him. He had found the best route out of this blasted ghost of a town and had not come across any obstacles. Breathing out a final sigh as he turned back into the depths of the town, he nodded to himself. Yes...they were going to be fine, they could make it. Whether it was the family's faith, Mother Abbyss' prayers or simply blind luck, he did not know. 'A good helping of all three!' He thought to himself, elated by how promising the escape looked. There was still a nagging fear at the back of his mind, but Georg subdued the evil whispers of doubt, cackling in his ears, and tried with all his might to be hopeful, like his wife Maria. As the street where his family was waiting came into view, he smiled again and risked running the last few metres to reach them...  
  
Turning amongst the weaving maze of streets, the line of people set course towards the station (Maria supposed it was where Georg had seen soldiers when they had arrived) and followed a path of roads that lead past the town centre, the wall of mountains the family had traversed flanking them continuously to their left. Maria looked up at the peaks, constantly visible above the rooftops, and marvelled at how high they were, the clouds hugging the rocks with their soft, spectral dampness. A lump came to her throat as she wistfully gazed at the lush greenery of nature, untouched by Man's destructive hand and she silently damned herself for letting her mind wander at such a grave time as this... but she could not help herself - the mountains held some claim over her heart and her soul, it owned a part of her that even Georg could not reach.  
She guiltily pushed aside her reflections to look back again at the children. They were staring, ashen faced, around them, probably hunting for any sign of their hero Captain. The officer's grip on her arm tightened and he pulled her forward, she had obviously been lagging. As she was about to turn her concentration back to where she was walking, Liesl's eye caught hers and they shared a tentative smile. Each was trying to comfort the other, Maria felt she had some duty to ease the children's worries in what little way she could and Liesl was picturing how scary it must be, forcibly pinned to the side of a Nazi. Maria assumed that this was why the girl had tried to give a comforting smile but was really not particularly bothered by the officer's clasp on her arm; _Yes_ the man had devoted his life to the Third Reich, but he was still merely a man.  
  
As he reached the turning into the street, Georg knew instantly that something was wrong. He could not immediately see his family and knew that they would not have retreated back too far down the lane, Maria would have wanted to watch the road for when he returned. Sure enough, his fears were confirmed when he raced into the little cobbled street and found it completely empty.  
An involuntary whine of worry gurgled at the back of his throat and before he could stop himself, he called out.  
"Maria! Liesl! Frie - Children!...Maria?!" He paused, surely even if they were a couple of streets away they would have heard his voice and yet there was no reply. His throat grew tight as he began to panic, constricting the oxygen from reaching his lungs as he fought to breathe. His tongue grew dry and he knew that he must have been hyperventilating as his inflamed lungs began to burn.  
Pausing to steady his breathing, timing the seconds as he sucked air in and slowly let it out, Georg managed to contain the wild, primal terror that had nearly engulfed him and once again studied the street through the prickling tears in his eyes. It was then that his eyes fell on the flask. He stepped towards it and felt his breath catch once again as he looked down at the small container, abandoned wretchedly in the gutter, water dripping every few seconds from it's open mouth. He knew then that something had happened...


End file.
